by techno
Mon Aug 27th, 2007 at 05:52:39 AM EST
I live next to the state of South Dakota. A look at a wind map would leave almost anyone drooling at the possibilities for making some serious money harvesting all that energy.
The state is sparsely populated (less than 600,000 folks on around 75,000 square miles of land.) The topography is bleak and only the most sentimental could ever raise objection to wind development on aesthetic grounds. Any economic development would be welcome.
At least 100 gigawatts of renewable power is just waiting to be harvested in a place with roads and honest governments. Compared to building offshore, construction is absurdly easy
So the question is, how would a project to build 200,000 5mw wind turbines actually be organized?
Good discussion & resources - from the diaries ~ whataboutbob
Technological problems
Who builds turbines on that scale in those numbers? While a major car plant can build 200,000 vehicles a year and wind turbines are no more complicated to build, the parts for wind turbines are MUCH larger and that changes a lot of production realities.
How do folks get so much juice to markets? Who makes the best transmission methods.
Economic and Sociological problems
A project of this scale is beyond simple market capitalism. How are technological problems solved while providing for the maximum localized economic development?
Such a project has a lot of goodies to spread around, what are the best ways to get the best folks aboard and keep the crooks out?
How does such a project get financed?
Windpower, by it's very nature is a dispersed project, what are the best ways to get so many actors on the same page?
And then there are the political problems. This is such a huge area I cannot even specify good questions--so consider this an open thread.
There are real world reason why I am asking for advice. I know someone who is just itching to be the Harold Hill of South Dakota windpower. I am trying to steer the man in right directions. I have plenty ideas to be sure, but I need to avoid the obvious problems.
I am creating a promotional "sales kit" for this project. I have a bunch of raw material--video footage, pictures, etc. I have an infinity of creative software. But none of this means much if there are really insurmountable hurdles to this sort of project. Warnings are welcome.